Effects of Anchovy Fish Meal in Broiler Diets

Four experiments were conducted with male broiler chicks to observe effects on growth and feed efficiency when soybean meal of a corn-soymeal diet is replaced at different levels by anchovy fish meal protein. The experimental diets were fed to 7-day-old male chicks for 21 days in Experiment 1, 2, and 3, and 42 days in Experiment 4. No differences in body weight or feed efficiency were observed in Experiment 1 when anchovy fish meal (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8%) replaced soybean meal in a 20% protein corn-soymeal diet. In Experiment 2, weight gain and feed efficiency indicated that corn-soybean meal diets were superior to corn-anchovy fish meal diets when fed at four levels of protein (12, 15, 18, and 21%). In Experiment 3, corn-herring fish meal diets produced greater weight gains of chicks than either corn-anchovy meal or corn-soybean meal diets. Performance of chicks fed anchovy fish meal and soybean meal was similar. Chicks fed diets containing fish meal did not respond in growth (P > 0.05) to methionine supplementation. In Experiment 4, soybean protein replacement (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100%) by anchovy fish meal was studied. Comparisons of treatments indicated no differences (P > 0.05) in body weights or feed efficiency except when fish meal replaced all the soybean protein. A significant growth depression was observed at the 100 percent replacement of the soybean protein. There appeared to be no effect of anchovy fish meal on gizzard erosion.